InGreek mythology, adrakaina (Ancient Greek:δράκαινα,Latinizeddracaena) is a femaleserpent ordragon, sometimes with humanlike features.[1]
Examples of thedrakaina includedCampe,Delphyne,Echidna andSybaris.[citation needed]
Python, slain byApollo, and the earliest representations of Delphyne are shown as simply gigantic serpents, similar to otherGreek dragons.[1][2] However, although the word "drakaina" is literally the feminine form ofdrakon (Ancient Greek for dragon orserpent), most drakainas had some features of a human woman.Lamia,Campe,Echidna, and many representations ofCeto,Scylla, andDelphyne had the head and torso of a woman.Medusa is also mentioned as adrakaina while also emphasizing her human aspects; rather than adrakaina alone, it has been argued that she is a woman who has been fused with a dragon.[3]
The drakaina was a sacred female spirit dragon generally slain only by gods ordemigods.Zeus slew Delphyne and Campe, Apollo slew Python, andArgus Panoptes slew Echidna.[citation needed]
Echidna was the mate ofTyphon and the mother of a huge brood of monsters, including other dragon-like creatures. According toHesiod, Echidna gave birth toCerberus,Orthrus, theChimera, theNemean lion, theSphinx, and theHydra. Other ancient authors, such asHyginus, attribute even more monsters as children of Echidna such as theCaucasian eagle, theCrommyonian Sow, theColchian dragon, theHarpies andScylla.[citation needed]